


Serena's Journey

by MoonShip17



Category: Pocket Monsters | Pokemon (Anime), Pocket Monsters | Pokemon - All Media Types, Pocket Monsters: X & Y | Pokemon X & Y Versions
Genre: F/M, Gen
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2021-02-23
Updated: 2021-02-23
Packaged: 2021-03-14 00:47:01
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 2
Words: 1,702
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/29659857
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/MoonShip17/pseuds/MoonShip17
Summary: After the Team Flare incident and battle of Zygarde, Serena heads off to Hoenn to on her own. She wants to be by herself process everything that has happened. Does her need to prove to her independence prevent her from making new friends and discovering new relationships?
Kudos: 5





	1. Chapter 1

**Author's Note:**

> I am late to the game, but have been binge watching Pokemon recently. All the episodes after XYZ have been disappointing. I really like Serena's character development and want to see her grow more. 
> 
> This is my first stab. Please be gentle but I really would appreciate feedback.

“Ding.” The fasten seat belt sign lights up. 

“All passengers must return to their seats. Flight attendants prepare for landing. We will be landing in Hoenn shortly.” As the voice boomed from the speakers overhead, Serena felt her muscles tense and fill with excitement and fear. She hadn’t been alone like this since she first left on her Pokémon journey. 

At least she had her Pokémon with her. There was a whole world of new world of adventure ahead of her. A brand-new region of adventure, Pokémon, and friendships to discover. The mixture of lush green trees, shimmering gray buildings, and bright blue water could be seen out the window. She was giving herself this internal pep talk as the wheels hit the ground. Deep breathe.

The Hoenn airport is very modern. The main concourse is all white and steel and with. Rounded exposed ceiling. All the metal beams are pained white. The floor is stone white and the sound of people all around dragging wheeled suitcases echo through the open space. One of the walls is top to bottom glass with cross beams of white metal bracing it from the outside. On the other side of the glass, you see a beautiful sun drench fountain with green trees and a city in the background. It was clean and cold, yet welcoming.

She is standing there taking it all in when she hears her name called out in the background, “Serena!” She looks around for a familiar face, but she hasn’t been here before. Who would know her? She sees the boy with green hair running up to her. It’s Sawyer. He did say he was coming to Hoenn to research with Stephen Stone. “What are you doing here? Where’s Ash?” 

It did feel odd not traveling with Ash. And as much as she wanted to stay traveling with him. She needed to have her own path. “He went back to Kanto. I came to Hoenn on my own journey. I’m going to learn about the contests here. Did you just get here? I thought you left a few days ago.”

“I had to go home first. I live in a different town. Steven is picking me up here to head to the Devon Corporation offices.”

A taller boy, maybe more like young man, with slate blue hair and piercing eyes to match walks up between them. His eyes lock on Serena. “Oh Steven, this is Serena – “ 

“Nice to see you again.” Steven nods in acknowledgement then smiles, “…and formally meet.” 

Serena is mesmerized by how much his hair color matches his eyes. She hadn’t noticed this when they met in Kalos. Completely lost in this thought and remembering back to how Steven heroically showed up to help at the battle of Kalos she snaps out just in time to say “Hello. It’s good to see you again. I completely forgot you are both from Hoenn.” Seeing Stephen reminded her of the team flare incident and how much she wanted to be a stronger Pokémon trainer.

“Yes, welcome to our home region! Your Braixen was quite impressive in the battle. If you need help training, I’d be happy to help.” This was an amazing offer considering Stephen in the raining Hoenn champion. Stephen would be a great person to learn from. She remembered back to the battle. Braixen riding on Metagross’s back. She felt a little embarrassed how weak she was compared to Stephen and Professor Sycamore’s mega evolved team. Was he serious or teasing her?

Sawyer looked up at the conversation drooling with envy. “I’d love to have help training.” Steven smiled, “well of course, that’s why you’re helping me with the research on mega stones. We need to pick up some research equipment before heading out. I think there is a Pokémon contest in Rustboro City coming up. Do you want to ride with us?”

“Oh, thank you so much. That’s a kind offer but I just got here and I think I need to journey on my own for a little first. Part of leaving Kalos was a fresh start to clear my head.” She couldn’t believe she was turning down an opportunity to travel with the Hoenn champion. It would be too easy to go along with Steven, just as it easy for her to follow along with Ash in Kalos, or to train with Palermo. She didn’t want to be dependent on anyone right now. There was too much that happened the last few weeks. She just needed some quite to think. 

“I can respect that. Could we at least give you a ride to the Pokémon center in town?”

“That would be great!”


	2. Learning new recipes

Serena is at the Pokémon Center kitchen. Braixen is stirring a mixing bowl of batter while Pancham watches closely. After pouring the batter into the piping bags, Serena starts piping the pokepuffs and sprinkles different berries to each one. She is so focused on decorating each puff that she doesn’t notice anyone come in.

He looks to be older than Serena. A taller, skinnier boy with long arms wrapped around a basket full of fruit, berries, and pouches of flour and seeds. He sets everything down on the counter and begins studying Serena and her pokepuffs. “That’s a lot of detail. Are those pastries for people or pokemon?”

“Oh!” Serena straightens up in surprise. “um. These are poke puffs. They are for Pokémon. I top each one with different berries for different Pokémon.”

“Interesting. I make my pokeblock mix with different seeds and berries for each type too… but they aren’t that pretty.”

“Thanks… what are pokeblocks?”

“Pokémon food.” He holds out a container of little square pebbles. “This is what most people feed their Pokémon here. It’s concentrated with nutrients. I make my own instead of the premade boxes at the store beuase I like to customize and really know the ingredients,” he declared this rather proudly. “I’m making a big batch now for our journey to Rustboro City. I’m on my way there for culinary school… I’ll be learning to cook for humans there. How have you never seen pokeblocks before?” He was sincerely interested.  
“That does seem like it would travel better than pokepuffs.” She realized how much she was going to be learning here. Even the simple task of feeding Pokémon was different outside of Kalos.

“Here you want to try one.” He holds out a red square to Braixen. “I assume you are a fire type?”

Braixen nods and accepts the block. She sniffs and examines if carefully before tasting it. She smiles approvingly as Pancham and Sylveon look on with curiosity.

“I’m sorry. I don’t know what to offer you two. I don’t think I’ve ever seen anything like you before”

“Oh! This is Braixen, Pancham, and Sylveon. And I’m Serena.” 

“Nice to meet you all. I’m Paul and this is Gulpin. He’s my taste tester.” Gulpin seems to be a big green blob. He throws a couple of pokeblocks to him. He opens his mouth wide. His mouth is a as big as his head. 

They both pull out their pokedex to examine each other’s Pokemon but realize they have regional pokedex that are not registering the regional pokemon. Serena explained that she just arrived from Kalos for her pokemon journey. After learning Pancham and Sylveon’s type, Paul gives Pancham a purple block and Sylveon and pink block. They sniff them suspiciously before happily gulping them down and looking up for more. Paul happily gives them each two more.

“Wow. They really like them. Can you teach me how to make those? I think they will travel much easier than pokepuffs.” It was nice chatting with Paul. He seemed genuine and it was nice to talk to someone new that didn’t know anything about her or her past. Her former travelling campions were accomplished in their own right. 

“Sure! I’m so glad they like them. I don’t have any dark or fairy types to taste test. I’m making batches right now.” He begins to unpack his ingredients. Serena starts cleaning up and places her batch of pokepuffs in the oven. She pulls out her smartphone and starts taking pictures and notes of all the ingredients Paul is measuring out. “You should meet my sister. She is planning to try her hand in the contest coming up in Petalburg City. She is out battling the gym right now for practice.”

“You didn’t want to go watch your sister’s battle?” Serena hadn’t done any of her own gum battles but always enjoyed watching them. 

“No, I don’t really like battles. It’s all a little more violent than I like.” Paul was very matter of fact. 

“Yeah, I guess so. I never really thought about it like that. The showcases in Kalos don’t have battles, but I’m going to need to get better at them since contests here in Hoenn have a battle component.” She reflected on the battles that she has had. She was lost in this thought when Paul lightly poked her to pass the basket bottle of milk.

They continued to chat as they waited for the everything to cook in the oven. Serena enjoyed talking with Paul. It was nice to talk to someone with a fresh perspective. Paul was equally fascinated in chatting with Serena and learning about Kalos. It was the culinary epicenter of the world. She agreed to teach him how to make macarons and he was going to show her some of his favorite foods in Hoenn. 

They were halfway through mapping out restaurants to try when a blue haired girl walks in. She is amused by the sight of Paul and Serena leaning over the kitchen counter colluding over restaurants menus. 

“Hi,” they both look up to girl smirking at them, “What’s going on?”

“Julia, this is Serena” the boy with the matching blue hair answers, “this is my sister, Julia. Serena is visiting from Kalos to learn about the contests here in Hoenn. I told her you’d be a great person to talk to.”

The curls in her hair seemed to bounce and the girl lit up with excitement. “I love contests. I want to be a top coordinator!”

**Author's Note:**

> I'm convinced they are 16 in Kalos, and Steven is a few years older. (In my mind 20. There's a big difference between 16 and 20, but that difference is less significant as they get older. The age difference between 20 and 24 feels less.) Maybe there is something between Serena and Steven...


End file.
